Magic & Victory
by All Knowing 1
Summary: At the end of The Last Olympian,the gods vowed to acknowledge their children before they turn 13 and all minor gods received a cabin at Camp-Half Blood. How will the campers react when the minor god's children begin arriving, gods who supported Kronos?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not and never will own PJO, but I want to. All characters and this world belong to Rick Riordan. Only Ryan, Jay, and Leon (so far) are mine.**

** This is by first time writing a Fanfic, so be nice. Review even to tell me it is terrible. Please tell me if I have an inconsistency with the series and I will change it. This all takes place after TLO.**

Ryan Larsican sighed as he stared at the school building. _All right_, he thought, _it is the last day of school._ _If I can make it for a few more hours, I will finally have been to a single school for an entire year_. Ryan had been expelled from at least one school every year for a while now. And it was never his fault. Okay, he did have dyslexia and ADHD, but other kids had these and weren't kicked out. It was just that weird things always seemed to happen when he was around. It had been this way as far back as he could remember. Even in kindergarten, one day everyone's crayons began to color the wrong colors. Everyone's except his. Although the teachers never actually blamed him, they gave him weird looks for the rest of the year. As he got older, this had continued. It was never much, the water fountain erupting when he passed, a bully he hated tripping every five steps. Eventually, the school's teachers and staff couldn't stand it and expelled him.

Ryan gave another mental sigh as he shook his black haired head. His hair was an extremely dark black, black as wet ink, as one person had put it. The blackness was a sharp contrast to his bright blue eyes. Not wanting to be mistaken as Goth or emo (not that there was anything wrong with that, it just wasn't him), he tried to wear bright colors, royal blues, reds, and even a shirt he had tie-dyed green and purple. The only accessory he wore was a silver ring inset with a purple stone. It was all he had left of his mother. His mother had left before he could remember and his father had raised him until he was five. One day he came home to discover his father was dead. No one could identify the cause, since there were slashes on his body that weren't made by any weapon the police could identify. They had labeled it "suicide" and placed Ryan in the care of his grandparents. The ring had been found in a box under his father's bed with his name written on it. It also contained a note from his mother, saying he should have it when he got older, "just in case." He had worn it hung around his neck until his hand was big enough that it could fit around his finger. He never took it off; as he felt it gave him some, invisible link to the mother he had never known.

As he turned to contemplate the school building again, he felt someone slap him none-too-gently on the back of his head. He knew who it was before he even turned around.

"Damn, Jay, what was that for?"

Jade Lorena, who made everyone call her Jay, placed her hands on her hips, her green eyes staring at him angrily. He couldn't help marveling, as he did every time that he saw her, at her hair, a bright golden blond, her slim athletic body, and tan skin. Jay was the school track star and kept herself in perfect shape. She had won state and regional for the last three years, she had told him. For her, losing wasn't an option. He wondered, when she had every guy pining after her (and who wouldn't with that body), why she had chosen him to be her friend. He wasn't popular, didn't play any sport, and while he wasn't ugly (he hoped) he wasn't a heartthrob by any means. He had muscles, but less than Jay. He was of average height and possibly on the thin side with weight. His skin was as tan as Jay's, and some girls saw him as "mysterious." _Yet as the new kid, not knowing anything, Jay still became my friend_, he thought to himself.

Another slap from Jay brought him back to the present. "The first one," she said, holding up a single finger, "was for not hearing me when I said hi. The second," she raised another finger, "was for checking me out while still ignoring me." She laughed as Ryan colored, embarrassed. "Now come on, we told Leon we'd meet him in homeroom."

Leon, a shy boy who was in a wheelchair, was the third member of their group. He had introduced himself to them mid-year, and had been there for them ever since. He never really talked about his family, or why he was in the wheelchair, but they never asked. He had been over to their houses at least once, and met Ryan's grandparents and Jay's dad and step-mom. Jay had also never known her mom. Her mom and dad had met when her dad was an upcoming Olympic star. They had married two years later and had Jay. Her mom had left soon after, but Jay held no grudges. Her step-mom was amazing and Jay adored her two year old half-brother. That was one thing both Ryan and Jay had in common, neither had known their mother, but neither held a grudge against them for leaving. Jay also shared his ADHD and dyslexia, so they often helped each other study. Ryan waved as he and Jay entered the classroom to find Leon sitting there waiting for them.

"What took you so long?" he asked, sounding irritated.

"Ryan was busy checking me out," Jay replied before Ryan could say anything.

"I was not…" Ryan began before Leon cut him off.

"Whatever. Do you know why Ms. Lee asked us to meet her here?"

"Ms. Lee didn't tell us to meet _her _here," Ryan told him. "She said that new teacher, Ms… Shen, I think, wanted to see us. "

"Oh no," Ryan thought he heard Leon mutter as Ms. Shen walked into the room. She was a serious looking woman of average height and weight. Her brown hair was pinned down tightly, as if she feared it might escape and her nails were painted an odd brownish tone. She wore a dark black business suit and her smile was anything but friendly.

"Ah, thank you both for coming," she said, turning to face them. "I have a very important matter to discuss with you.

"What is that?" Jay asked, looking as confused as Ryan felt.

Ms. Shen began to unpin her hair. As she pulled out the last pin she replied, "Oh, just your demise."

Before Ryan could register that statement, Ms. Shen began to change. Her hair began to squirm and hiss. As the brown coloring began to flake off, Ryan found himself staring at a swarm of snakes. As for Ms. Shen herself, even odder things were occurring. The black business suit seemed to melt into her skin, which in turn became coated with green scales, like those of a snake. Her mouth opened in an evil grin, reveling she also had a snake's fangs. Giant golden wings protruded out of her back as the monster glared at them.

"Run!" Leon screamed.

Startled into action, Ryan and Jay ran for the door. Before they could open it, however, the monster had landed in front, its claws almost catching them.

"What is that thing?" Jay yelled.

"That's Stheno, one of Medusa's Gorgon sisters," Leon replied. "She can't turn you to stone, but she's still deadly."

"How do you know that," Ryan yelled at him. "What is she doing here?"

"She's after you, the rest I'll explain later." Leon then surprised them both by leaping out of his wheelchair. "I'll distract her, you run!"

As Ryan turned to do so, he realized that Leon didn't have human legs, but the legs of a goat. _A gorgon, a satyr, what is going on here? _

"Leon!" he heard Jay shout. He turned and saw the Gorgon swipe at Leon with her claws, scoring a long cut on Leon's stomach. Before he could do anything, Jay leaped at the Gorgon, delivering a flying kick to her arm. Jay had taken martial arts for years; her kicks by this point could fracture bones. The Gorgon shrugged it off like it was a mosquito bite.Snarling, the Gorgon charged at them. Dodging as best he could, Ryan backed into a wall, slamming the back of his arms and head into it. As he tried to make his head stop hurting, he felt warmth in his hand. Looking down, he saw the purple stone in his ring was glowing faintly.

It's never done that before. He touched it softly. To his surprise the glow went into overdrive. The next thing he knew, the ring was gone and in its place he was holding a spear, as long as he was tall. It was made of white wood, with a head of some metal Ryan didn't recognize. The said head seemed to be on fire. Purple fire. Ryan didn't have much time to contemplate this as the Gorgon ran at him. Acting out of instinct, he jammed the spear straight at her. A scream sounded as he looked up to see the spear impaling the Gorgon. She seemed to freeze, as if in shock, before slowly slumping to the ground. In a few seconds she had faded away. Looking around, Ryan noted absentmindedly the spear had reverted back to a ring. He slipped it on as he walked over to where Jay was helping Leon to his feet. She had found something to bind his wound.

"Explain." Ryan demanded.

Leon sighed. "It's not safe here. Follow me, I'll explain on the way there.

"There?" asked Jay. "Where exactly is there?"

"Camp Half-Blood."

**How was it? Review Please. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Again, I do not and never will own PJO. All characters and this world still belong to Rick Riordan. I also don't own Nike brand. Ryan, Jay, and Leon are mine. **

**Sorry about the typos in the first chapter, they should be corrected now. Thanks to all who reviewed. It really is appreciated. **

The rest of the morning passed in a blur. Despite Leon's insistence that they needed to be gone _now_, both Ryan and Jay insisted that they needed to go home and pack at least the essentials. Ryan was worried his grandparents would forbid him to go, but as soon as he mentioned Camp Halfblood, they only nodded grimly.

"We knew this day would come," his grandfather said gruffly. "Your friend Leon told us when he came over, and your father had also mentioned it."

Ryan's grandmother nodded. "There really isn't any other option." She suddenly enclosed him in a hug and when she let go there were tears in her eyes. "Be careful and stay safe."

Ryan then took his bags and ran over to Jay's house. Apparently, her dad had taken it well, or perhaps had also known about it before as well. In any case, Jay was packed, and nodded to him as he came in.

"Are you ready now," Leon asked impatiently. "We need to get going."

"Where exactly is this camp?" Jay asked.

"Long Island."

"And how do you expect us to get there?" she replied. "We live in Manhattan. Do you think we can fly?"

"Let me handle that," Leon replied.

"Oh, Jay," Jay's father called out. He came up holding a box. "Here. Your mother left these for you; she said to give them to you when you left for Camp Halfblood."

"What is it?" inquired Ryan as he peered over Jay's shoulder as she opened the box.

"Oh-my-god," Jay sounded like she had found Atlantis. "Nike shoes!" She exclaimed happily, holding them up.

Ryan sighed internally. Jay adored anything made by Nike. Likely, almost all the clothes she had packed were that brand.

"Is that all?" he asked, a bit disappointed_. I was hoping it was something like my ring_.

"They probably aren't just shoes," Leon inserted, "but can we _please_ get to camp before you test them?"

"Fine," Jay grumbled, depositing the shoes reverently into the box. Waving to her father, Jay followed Leon out the door. Hoping all this wasn't a giant mistake, Ryan followed them.

"What are you doing?" Ryan asked Leon for the third time. They had been standing on this street corner for the last hour. They had already taken multiple busses to get into central New York and Ryan just wanted to get to the camp and be done with it.

"Waiting," Leon replied calmly. "It should be here soon."

Ryan was about to ask what_ it_ was when Leon suddenly acted. Taking what appeared to be a gold coin out of his pocket; he threw it onto the street. The coin sunk into the pavement.

A screeching noise filled the air, and suddenly a taxi appeared in front of them. To Ryan, it seemed to me made of fog and mist. Leon urged them in and, after throwing them their luggage, climbed in and directed "To Camp Halfblood."

As Ryan got his bearings, he realized that there was more than just a single driver in the front. Three women sat in the front, all with gray hair and bickering loudly. "Give me the eye," one of them said to the one who was actually driving, "I want to see the coin." "I'm driving you hag!" the second yelled, swerving to avoid slamming into a nearby truck. "Besides, you had the eye yesterday!" "That was because you had the tooth," the first wailed. The third ignored them both. Looking closer, Ryan suddenly realized what they were arguing about. The gray women had no eyes or teeth. They merely had empty sockets in their faces and mouths. Well, two did. The driver had a single eye, a bloodshot orb in her right socket. The third smiled, revealing she had a single tooth, a large yellow molar.

"Leon, who are they?" Ryan whispered.

"The Grey Sisters," Leon replied. "They share a single eye and single tooth among them." He paused as the taxi swerved to avoid another collision. "This is the fastest way to get from New York to Camp Halfblood."

Ryan was about to tell Leon he would rather walk, when Leon began to speak again. "I told you I would explain everything on the way so I better start. The first thing you need to know is one important fact about Greek Mythology. The stories of gods, goddesses, monsters and such. Well, they're real. Everything. The gods still exist and, like in the stories, they sometimes mate with mortals and produce demigod, or halfblood, children. That's where you come in. You are two of those children. Camp Halfblood is where those children go to train, a place that is safe from monsters. Well, reasonable safe at least."

Leon then began to talk about a recent war with the Titans that the demigods and Olympians had won, but barely. A halfblood named Perseus Jackson seemed to have turned the tide and became "The Hero of Olympus." Ryan listened in amazement until Leon finished with the oath Perseus had made the gods swear, to claim their children by their 13th birthday and to give all minor gods a cabin at camp.

"Does that mean we will both be claimed soon?" Ryan finally asked. "Jay will be 13 in a couple of days and I will also in about a week."

"It's likely then," Leon confirmed. "From what you both told me, your mothers seem to be your godly parents. But I have no clue who they are. I've never seen a spear like yours Ryan and we don't know what Jay's shoes do yet. Due to her being a track star, I would be tempted to say she was from Hermes, but he's the wrong sex. We'll have to wait and see."

"We're approaching," one of the sisters called back.

"Give me the eye, I want to see the entrance."

"No."

Ryan sighed and waited for the ride to end.

As soon as the taxi had sped away, Leon led them inside the camp. Ryan was amazed. In the distance he could see a deep blue lake with what looked like canoes in it. He also saw other boys and girls practicing with swords and bows against targets. Near the center, there was a long rectangle of cabins. Each was different, from one that looked like it had been grown from the ground, complete with a grass roof, to one that resembled a small factory. Near where he stood was a tree with what appeared to be a golden sheepskin hanging from it.

"Follow me," Leon gestured as he lead them to the largest structure on camp, a giant house.

"What's that called?" Jay said, waving at the building.

"The Big House," Leon replied.

_Original,_ thought Ryan. As the approached, Ryan could see two figures on the porch. One looked to be a man dressed in a garish Hawaiian shirt. The other was as strange as Leon, possibly stranger. He had the head and torso of a man, and the lower portion of a horse.

"Oh great, more brats," the man muttered as they came within earshot. Addressing Ryan and Jay he scowled. "Welcome, blah, blah blah and stuff. I'm Dionysus, yes the god so don't annoy me. You can refer to me as Mr. D. as long as you never refer to me so I won't be bothered." Turning, he walked into the house.

"Welcome," the centaur said in a much kinder tone. "I am Chiron, Activities Director. I assume you are very confused. Let me have someone show you around while I confer with Leon." He motioned to a boy who was just exiting the Big House. "Nico, will you please show them around?"

Nico, who looked to be approximately their age, just shrugged. He had hair as dark as Ryan's with olive skin that was slightly pale. His eyes were a dark brown. Gesturing at them to follow, he began to walk down to the cabins. He showed Ryan and Jay the woods, where he said Capture the Flag was played. Privately, Ryan felt that wasn't the same as the game he had played when younger. There was the climbing wall, with real lava to "make it more challenging," and multiple practice arenas, as well as the strawberry patches and the lake. Lastly, he brought them to a cabin that had a caduceus over the door. It was a bit worn looking, though it seemed to have been painted recently. "You'll be staying here until you get claimed," Nico informed them. "Be careful, Hermes is the god of thieves." Nico then introduced them to Travis and Connor Stoll, the co-counselors of the Hermes cabin, and left.

"Well, this has been interesting," Ryan commented to Jay as he put his bags on a bunk.

Jay nodded. "According to the Stolls, if we get claimed, it will likely be at the campfire tonight. Hey, let's go test my shoes to see what they can do!"

As Ryan followed Jay out, he wondered if either of them would get chosen tonight_. I'll finally know who my mom is. Even I don't get chosen tonight, I will soon, I'll be thirteen in less_ _than a week._ Jay yelled for him to hurry and Ryan smiled to himself. This had been a crazy day, but maybe things were starting to improve. He couldn't wait for the campfire that night.

**Hope you liked Chapter 2! I should be bringing in some of the main characters from the books next chapter. Also, you get to find out who their parents are. Please Review and I will love you!**

**P.S. In case you're wondering, this takes place about a year after The Last Olympian, so Nico is about their age (13).**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Still don't own PJO. Rick Riordan, however, does. I also don't own Nike brand, or else I would have a lot more money. Ryan, Jay, and Leon are mine. **

**It is finally time for Jay and Ryan to get claimed! Please read & review.**

"Well," Ryan stated, sitting down on the grass, "I give up." Jay scowled at him but he ignored her. They had been trying for the last hour and a half to find out what Jay's shoes did. They had quickly determined that they didn't transform into a weapon, as Ryan's ring did. Also, they didn't allow her to fly. Ryan had originally laughed when Jay suggested that until she reminded him of the shoes Hermes had, which he had given to heroes on occasion. But after a while, she had admitted they weren't letting her fly.

"Maybe they are just normal shoes," Ryan suggested. "I mean, they look normal."

"Never judge something only by the way it looks," a voice said from behind him.

Ryan turned to look at who had spoken. It was a girl, likely about 17 years old, with curly blond hair and eyes that were a stormy grey. Ryan started when he realized there was an odd streak of grey in her hair. That alone told him who she was. Leon had described her in detail on the ride over. Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, the Architect of Olympus and, at least according to rumors, Percy Jackson's girlfriend.

Jay noticed her too, and turned to face her. "What do you mean by that?"

Annabeth smiled. "I'm only saying that even though your shoes look normal, it doesn't mean they are." She reached into a bag she was carrying and took out a Yankee's baseball cap. "For example, this also looks normal. But if I put it on…"She placed it on her head and instantly vanished. Removing it, she smiled again at Jay. "If your mom did give you those shoes, they likely have something special about them. You just might not have found it yet."

Jay returned Annabeth's smile. "Thanks. I'm Jay by the way, and this is Ryan."

"You're Annabeth right?" Ryan asked before Annabeth could reply.

"Yes I am." She sighed. "I kind of wish one time I could actually introduce myself though."

"Sorry."

"It's okay." Annabeth looked at them closely. "You both are new, right? I don't think I've seen you before."

"Yeah," Ryan replied. "We got attacked by this Gorgon at school, so Leon brought us here. He said our parents, for us moms, would claim us before we turn thirteen. Were both close, so it should be any day, right?"

"That was the gods made with Percy," she confirmed.

"I still can't figure out what these shoes do!" Jay said in an exasperated tone. "At least I can run in them." Jay set out at a run for a tree several feet away. At least, she started at a run. In seconds she was a superhumanly fast blur. She covered the distance, probably at least half a mile, in a matter of seconds.

She slowed back to normal and stopped in front of them, her eyes wide in shock. "That was amazing!" she exclaimed in excitement. Ryan could only nod in agreement. _I think we now know what Jay's shoes can do_, he thought.

Annabeth grinned. "Good. Now that you've figured that out, follow me. Chiron wanted me to start you on the basics of sword training and test your skills at archery. And Jay," she said, turning to face her with a mock-stern expression, "try to stay at a normal speed." Ryan laughed at that, eventually joined by Jay as they followed Annabeth to the practice area.

After an hour Ryan was convinced he was utterly hopeless with a sword. And a bow. And a knife. Despite Annabeth's best efforts, he just couldn't seem to use any of them with even a minimum of success. Jay was a different story altogether. Though she was only average with a bow, she was amazing with both a sword and knife. After watching her at the targets, Annabeth had sparred with Jay herself. She had called a halt when she saw they seemed to be evenly matched. After a quick discussion, Annabeth had given Jay a shortsword of celestial bronze, a material able to harm monsters. She then turned her attention to him.

"I honestly don't know what to do with you," Annabeth announced. "You don't seem to be able to use any of the normal weapons."

"Why does it matter so much," Ryan asked, stung. "It's not like I would be using them often, if ever."

"You wouldn't?" Annabeth asked, looking perplexed.

"I'll use this," Ryan said, pressing the purple stone in his ring. The ring once again turned into the spear, the head alighting again with purple fire. "It's from my mom and I used it to kill the Gorgon."

"Why didn't you say so?" Annabeth exclaimed, sounding annoyed. "If you have a spear, you need to be trained in that." She paused for a minute, obviously thinking hard. "We'll need to find someone to teach you though. Hardly any half-bloods use spears, I definitely don't know how to use one." Looking at his spear again, she frowned slightly. "The spearhead doesn't look like celestial bronze, but it has to be. It can't be anything else." She spoke quietly, as if to herself. She shook her head violently. "I'll be interested in finding out who your mother is," she told Ryan. "Speaking of that, dinner should be soon." Motioning at them to follow her, she headed towards the Mess Hall, leaving Ryan to ponder her words as he and Jay followed.

Ryan and Jay sat with the Hermes Cabin. The Stoll brothers informed them that there were, other than them, two others in the cabin who were unclaimed. One was only 11, and the other would be 13 in a month or so. Everyone was fairly sure the latter was the daughter of Athena, since she had both the blond hair and grey eyes shared by the entire Athena Cabin.

Another surprise was the food. Basically, you could have whatever you wanted. You told the plate what you wanted and it appeared. "Now _this_ I could get used to," Ryan commented as a steaming hot portion of lasagna appeared in front of him. Jay nodded a hotdog and fries on her plate. Ryan then noticed everyone was dropping some food in the fire.

"It's tribute to the gods," Travis said, interpreting his look. "They like the smell or something." Ryan shrugged, then went over and scraped in a generous piece of his lasagna. Jay followed suit.

As Ryan sat down he heard her whisper, "To my mom. Whatever goddess she is." Suddenly, a something began to appear above Jay's head. _She's getting claimed_, Ryan realized, amazed. It was a pair of wings spread wide, glowing a white light. By the camper's confused looks, Ryan guessed this wasn't a symbol they recognized. Chiron did however.

"All hail Jade Lorena, daughter of Nike, Winged Goddess, crowner of victors!"

_Nike_, Ryan thought, _Jay's mother is the goddess of victory. That actually explains a lot. Like why she is so good at anything remotely sport related. And_, he thought smiling, _her obsession with Nike brand clothes_. Getting up, he walked to where Jay was standing, shocked, and joined the crowd congratulating her.

"Everyone please resume your seats," Chiron said, almost yelling to be heard. "Connor, after dinner please take Jay's items to the Nike Cabin. _All_ of her items." Connor grinned at the stress put on the word. "Jay, you can sit with the Hermes Cabin today. We'll see about getting another table in her tomorrow. Also, I would like to remind everyone we will be holding Capture the Flag tomorrow. The Team Captains will be Annabeth from the Athena Cabin and Clarisse from the Ares Cabin. Now, let us resume eating."

"I'm confused," Ryan confessed to Jay later, sitting by her and Annabeth by the campfire. "I know Nike is the goddess of victory. But I don't get why she gave you shoes that make you run fast."

"Nike is also the goddess of speed and strength," Annabeth put in. "That's part of the reason why Jay is so hard to beat in anything; she has more than a normal amount of both. Also," she turned to Jay, "I'd like you to be on my team for Capture the Flag. Normally, the teams are decided between cabin counselors, but since you're the only Nike camper, you are automatically counselor of your cabin. Nico and Percy are in the same situation."

"Sure," Jay said, having quickly gotten over her shock. "We'll win for sure!"

"With the daughter of victory on our side, I don't see how we can't!"

Laughing, Ryan and the others made their way to their cabins.

"Okay, this is what we'll do," Annabeth addressed the team. "Jay and some of the Hermes Campers will stay to guard the flag. The rest of the Hermes Cabin will try to capture anyone who gets close. Athena, Poseidon, and Hephaestus Cabins will get the other team's flag. Iris Cabin," Annabeth glanced at the twin girls with their rainbow streaked hair. "One of you will come with me, the other will go with the Stoll brothers. We'll use your ability to pass instant Iris messages to coordinate ourselves."

Ryan was impressed with Annabeth's strategy. But then again, she was a daughter of Athena. They were facing tough opposition; the other Team consisted of the Ares, Apollo, Dionysus, Hades, Demeter and Aphrodite Cabins. According to Annabeth, the Aphrodite campers wouldn't count for anything, they were more likely to sit around and stare at their reflections. Ryan was unsure of how he himself would do. He had armor, and since magical items were allowed, he had his spear to help him. He was also fairly sure he would be one of the ones left to guard the flag, so the only fighting he would see would be if someone managed to sneak past all the others. Still, he was nervous.

The teams split up as soon as the conch shell sounded. As he thought, Ryan was left behind to guard the flag. After 15 minutes, as he was finally beginning to relax, he heard the sound of people pushing through the bushes. At the same time, arrows began to streak out of the trees. Jay and two of the Hermes campers ran to confront the Ares campers who had stepped into the clearing. The other two Hermes campers vanished into the trees, trying to locate the Apollo archers. Ryan couldn't do anything. He was paralyzed with fear. The sounds of swords clashing faded into the background as he stood as if turned to stone.

Suddenly two arrows streaked out of the tree, heading straight towards him. He couldn't run. It took all his strength to thrust his arms in front of his facing, hoping the arrows would hurt less hitting them. But they never hit. Peeking between his arms, he saw the arrows embedded in trees nowhere near him. Somehow, the arrows had made 90 degree turns in the air and hit trees to either side of him. Ryan was astonished. Another arrow came flying at him. Concentrating this time, Ryan stuck at his arm and _pushed_ out. There was a slight pressure and the arrow flew backwards into the tree.

_What just happened?_ Ryan frantically thought. Suddenly he saw movement in the tree. Acting on instinct, he threw his spear at the movement. He missed, and the spear pounded into the tree. _Damn_, he thought, _even _I_ know you're never supposed to throw your weapon_. He reached out vainly, as if he could will his spear to come back. And he found that he could. The spear quivered for a minute, and then shot back into his hand. _How the…_he began to think, when he heard a shout of triumph. Looking up, he saw one of the Athena campers running into the clearing with the other team's flag in his hand.

Chiron galloped in after him, along with the rest of Ryan's team behind him. "Congratulations," he began when the campers started whispering and pointing. Shocked as he was, it took Ryan a minute to realize they were pointing at him. Looking up, Ryan saw two the outline of crossed torches, slightly glowing purple, hovering over his head.

Chiron looked as startled as the campers, but quickly regained his composure. "All hail Ryan Larsican, son of Hecate, goddess of magic and crossroads!"

Ryan quickly understood two things. First was that he had been claimed, his mother was Hecate. The second was that he could now explain what had just happened. It was magic. _His_ powers of magic.

**So now you know their godly parents. Now, how do you think the camper's will react to Ryan when his mother had sided with Kronos in the war? Please review.**

_P.S. As glad as I am about people adding this to their favorites or alerts, please also review so I will be motivated to write more._


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for taking so long to update and for the short chapter. My teachers all seemed to decide that this was the perfect time to give a lot of tests and quizzes. I'll try to post the next chapter sooner. A quest may be in the future!**

**Disclaimer- I own only what my mind made up. This, sadly, does not include PJO.**

"And this is your cabin," the Athena camper said, gesturing at the cabin. He then left, making no effort to hide the fact he was glad to leave. Ryan sighed. Ever since he had gotten claimed, people had been looking at him strangely, or just plain ignoring him. The exceptions to this were Jay (of course), Annabeth, and, surprisingly, Nico. Ryan hadn't really taken time to think about it, he had gone to get his stuff and Chiron had found someone to show him to his cabin.

The cabin itself was impressive. It was made of multiple large stones that had faint glowing Greek letters on their surfaces. Annabeth had told him they were bespelled, and that if one broke, everyone in the area would turn into a tree. Above the door was a much more detailed image of the same symbol that had appeared over his head when he was claimed, two crossed torches burning with purple fire. Walking inside the cabin, Ryan was relieved to find it fairly normal. There was a pair of bunk beds, though he seemed to be the only occupant at the time. There was also a large table next to a bookshelf, full of information on magic, some of which Ryan thought wouldn't apply to him at all. The most abnormal part of the inside was the lit purple torches spaced at intervals on the walls. There was a single window, but the blinds were shut at the moment. The torches made the cabin seem almost eerie, but in a good way. Ryan had to admit he liked it. Feeling more upbeat, he tossed his bags onto the lower bunk of one of the bunk beds.

"Nice cabin."

Ryan turned to see Jay standing in the doorway. He sighed, not surprised she had decided to follow to take a look. "Thanks, I like it."

"I still like my cabin better," Jay said. Her eyes then lit up. "Hey, you haven't seen it yet. Come on!" Jay them proceeded to grab his arm and practically drag him over to her cabin.

Stopping in front, Ryan examined it and agreed with Jay. It _was_ a nice cabin. It looked to be made of white marble. Over the door was the figure of a winged woman who Ryan guessed to be Nike. The inside was surprising, half the cabin contained mats and weights. Obviously, Nike assumed all her children would be into athletics. If Jay was anything to go by, she was right. Jay had already made herself quite at home, her various articles of clothing scattered around as if she had begun to unpack, then got distracted by multiple things at once. Given her attitude combined with ADHD that was likely exactly what happened.

The sound of a conch sounded, indicating it was time for dinner. Chiron gestured that he should sit at the table with the other minor gods' children. More tables were being made, but until that time all the minor gods' children shared a single table. This worked out fine, since there were only five of them at the moment. There was Ryan, Jay, and the twin Iris children, who Jay introduced as Aura and April. They gave Ryan identical half smiles, as if trying to be friendly without actively acting as friends. The last was Aaron, a son of Eris. He was a loner, and didn't seem to participate in any Camp activities. Jay had tried to be friendly with him, as she was with almost everyone, but he hadn't made any response, so even she had to give up.

After the sacrifice of food to the gods, they sat down to eat. Though he kept himself occupied by talking with Jay, Ryan could feel the other campers staring at him. He pretended to ignore it throughout dinner. When it ended and everyone began to head back to their cabins, he and Jay pulled Annabeth aside.

"Why is everyone glaring at me?' Ryan asked. He had noticed that the looks weren't friendly, and therefore he determined they were definitely glares.

Annabeth sighed. "It's not your fault. The thing is, we're all still recovering from the war. Your mother Hecate was on the Titans' side in that war. Because of this, some of the others are inclined to distrust you." She smiled at him, though it appeared a bit forced. "Don't worry; they'll get over it soon."

As they split up to go to their separate cabins, Ryan mulled over Annabeth's words. _I want to believe her,_ he thought, _but I doubt it will be that easy_. Shrugging, he got into a bed and fell instantly asleep.

Ryan awoke to shouts and loud noise the next morning. Frowning, he quickly dressed and went to see what was going on. He saw what appeared to be the entire camp gathered around the sword fighting arena.

"What's going on?" he asked as he approached the group. One camper looked back and, upon seeing it was him, turned his head back. Ryan, unsurprised by his attitude, looked around until he spotted Annabeth. "What's going on?" he asked her.

Turning to him, Ryan was surprised to see worry in her eyes. "I think Jay is doing something extremely stupid."

Looking to the center of the group, he saw Jay, sword drawn, squaring of against another girl. The girl was at least twice Jay's height and garbed in blood red armor. She hefted a long spear and seemed confident. Jay was virtually armor-less, wearing only a light shirt of chainmail. Pushing to get closer to the center, Ryan realized they were talking.

"You're a fool," the girl in the red armor stated. "You've not even been here a week and you think to challenge a daughter of the god of war?"

"Yeah," shouted someone in the crowd. "Ares even gave Clarisse his blessing. She is _invincible_."

Ryan turned to stare at Annabeth, who nodded, confirming the boy had spoken the truth.

"If you're so sure you'll win, why are you stalling?" Jay's voice rang out. "I think you're scared of…"

Jay didn't get to finish as Clarisse changed at her, spear swinging. As she reached her, however, Jay nimbly steeped to the side, avoiding the spear. She then slashed down with her sword, Clarisse barely recovering in time to block it. They kept exchanging blows; Clarisse's never managing to hit Jay before she dodged and Clarisse just managing to block Jay's. After a few minutes, Clarisse finally managed to hit Jay's hand with a glancing blow. The blow, catching Jay by surprise, caused her to drop her sword. Clarisse quickly kicked it out of her reach and, taking advantage of her momentary paralysis, shoved her down. Standing above her, Clarisse smugly announced, "I win."

Then, faster than any human (or demigod for that matter), Jay snapped her leg up in a kick, catching Clarisse's inner thigh. The kick must have been hard, for Clarisse staggered back, obviously in pain despite her heavy armor. Jay was immediately back on her feet and pressing the assault, attacking Clarisse with well placed kicks and punches, many of which Ryan suspected she had learned from her martial arts training. Finally, a particularly strong blow to the face knocked Clarisse off her feet. Jay grabbed the spear out of her suddenly lax grasp and held the point at her throat. "I win," she proclaimed, steeping on Clarisse's chest so she couldn't rise.

There was absolute silence. Ryan, evening knowing Jay his whole life, could barely believe she won. Jay's next move shocked him close to death. She walked up to him, Clarisse slowly raising, obviously enraged. "Ryan," she said, gesturing to the inflamed Clarisse, "Meet your fighting teacher."

**Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Not so much substance in this chapter, but it's needed to move the story along. In another chapter or two the twists will come in. Anyway, at least you get the prophecy here. Enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: I still don't own PJO. I'm working on it though**

The next few weeks passed quite quickly for Ryan. Though Clarisse was gruff and unsociable, she was extremely talented when it came to spear fighting. "She's the only one who could teach you," Jay had explained. "She had two spears from her father at different times. However, she would teach you when I first asked, so I wagered it on a battle." Ryan had considered asking what would have happened if Jay had lost, but decided he didn't really want to know. Therefore, though he was nowhere near her level, Ryan was soon able to fight adequately using his spear.

Whenever he had spare time, usually after dinner or early in the morning, Ryan tried to master and learn about his magic abilities. The books that were in the Hecate cabin were very helpful. Evidently, Hecate wanted her children to be well-informed. It appeared that every child of Hecate had one magical ability that was unique. Ryan's seemed to be something similar to telekinesis. He was able to move anything, regardless of weight, from quite a distance. He also discovered what "common magic," abilities were. These were abilities all children of Hecate shared, the ability to cast illusions and to fire magical energy blasts. The quality of the illusion and power of the blasts depended on the amount of training the user had. Ryan was able to create extremely realistic illusions, fooling sight, sound, smell, and even taste. However, he hadn't quite mastered the firing of strong magic blasts, but he was making progress.

Despite his progress, some things remained the same. Almost everyone at the camp was still ignoring him. There was a bit of improvement; the twin daughters of Iris had become his friends, as had a son of Philotes, a demigod who had arrived at camp week after him and Jay. The demigod, whose name was Alex, had been claimed that night. He hadn't rejected Ryan when he learned of his mother. Then again, being the son of the goddess of friendship, Alex quickly became friends with almost anyone. Of the other campers, only Annabeth and Nico would talk to him. This wasn't much help, since Annabeth was often away, designing and building parts of Olympus and Nico wasn't much of a talker in the first place.

One day, Ryan finally got the courage to ask Nico why he was so friendly towards him. Not that he wasn't glad that there was another who didn't hate him, but he couldn't explain it and he hated not knowing things.

Nico had shrugged when Ryan posed the question. "When I first came, most people ignored me too. Having a son of the ruler of the Underworld at camp wasn't popular with most of them. Also, children of Underworld gods have to stick together."

Ryan nodded; he knew Hecate was Persephone's companion, and thus an Underworld goddess. Nico also told him that, though it was hard to tell at first glance, that the tip of his spear was made of stygian iron. It was uncommon due to it only being available in the Underworld. Ryan decided not to share this information with anyone else. After all, you couldn't tell since the tip of his spear was always cloaked in purple fire. And he didn't need another thing making him different.

Ryan was sitting in the shade after a particularly grueling training session when he saw Jay run by. She stopped when she saw him. "Why are you sitting around on a day like today? You should be out doing something."

Ryan gave her a mock scowl. "I'm trying to recover from training with the drill sergeant you arranged to teach me."

Jay laughed. "Discipline is good for you." She paused for a minute, as if in thought. "You should come to the Big House with me if you aren't busy. Chiron wanted to see how we've been adjusting to camp. He would have had you come also, but I think he thought you were busy."

Ryan immediately got up. "I'm coming. Anything to get a break from Clarisse's training." Jay's only response was to role her eyes as they continued onward.

They found Chiron sitting (or technically standing, since he was in his full centaur form) on the porch waiting for them. "Ah, Jay you were able to bring Ryan too. Well, I'll get straight to it. How are you finding camp?"

"I like it," came Jay's immediate reply. "I finally have people who I can compete with. No one else could ever give me a challenge. Also, it's nice not to be the only one with ADHD and dyslexia."

Ryan shrugged. "Frankly, it would be better if people would talk to me instead of ignoring me. Even Clarisse pretends I don't exist outside of lessons. However, I am progressing in my study of my magic."

Chiron looked moderately interested. "What kind of progress? I know there isn't that much to mastering your telekinesis- type magic."

Ryan nodded. "True, but I can also do this." Suddenly, Ryan turned into a centaur, with only his waist up remaining human. Chiron stared in shock. Reverting to normal, Ryan grinned. "It's just illusion, and any child of Hecate can do it. It's the same with firing magic blasts. However, I don't have as good control over that, so I'd rather nor demonstrate it."

Chiron nodded and was opening his mouth to say something, likely along the lines of giving the other campers time to accept him. It was all stuff Ryan had heard before. Just then, however, a girl poked her head out of the door. She had red, frizzy hair and green eyes. She was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, both paint splattered. "Chiron, Mr. D. wanted me to ask…" she trailed off as she noticed Ryan and Jay's presence. "Sorry."

"It's fine," Chiron replied. "Ryan, Jay, meet Rachel, the current Oracle of Delphi."

"Nice to meet you," Jay said, taking hold of one of Rachel's hands and shaking it. Suddenly, a strange look crossed over Rachel's face. A greenish mist began to appear around her. She opened her mouth and said, in a voice that seemed to echo as if in a great canyon:

"_The night rings out with a bitter call_

_Victory's daughter will lead them all_

_Into the far West they go_

_To find those of which they don't know_

_The blame of centuries will at last be born_

_And as four they shall not return."_

Blinking her eyes, Rachel started into the astonished faces surrounding her.

"I gave a prophecy, didn't I?"

**Please review! Also, if there is a particular minor god/goddess you want me to include, tell me (in a review). I need 1-3 more. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Again, I don't own PJO. I also don't own Denver, Colorado, but I will once my world takeover is complete. I really just chose Denver randomly. I needed a Western city that wasn't in California and Las Vegas had been used in the first book. So, enjoy and please review! **

Chiron quickly called a meeting of the cabin councilors. As the only members of their respective cabins, Ryan and Jay were both automatically councilors. Others included Annabeth, Clarisse, Nico (who was in the same situation of being the only member of his cabin), and Percy Jackson, the hero of Olympus himself. Every occupied cabin was represented, even Eris', though Aaron looked liked he would rather be anywhere else. After everyone arrived, Chiron told them of the prophecy and repeated it word for word.

"Well, the second line is clear," Annabeth said when he finished. "Jay is the only 'Victory's daughter' at camp, so this is her quest."

"She also has to choose three to go with her," Percy added. 'That's obvious from the last line." The fact that the last line also meant that they wouldn't all be returning hung unsaid in the air.

Jay stood up. "You all know that I haven't been at camp very long, nor have I ever gone on a quest before." Ryan noticed she looked far more serious than he had ever seen her. "But since this is my quest, I have to choose who comes along, correct?" She looked over at Chiron who nodded.

Jay took a deep breath. "I definitely need to have someone with experience. Annabeth, could you come along?"

Annabeth furrowed her brow, obviously thinking hard. "I've drawn the plans for the reconstruction on Olympus and the work is going smoothly. I'm sure I could have my siblings look after it for a bit. So I'll come." Ryan noticed Chiron give a slight sigh. He was likely relieved that Jay wouldn't be going into this blindly. Ryan was considering this which, combined with his natural ADHD, almost made him miss Jay's next words.

"Ryan, you're coming too."

Ryan blinked his eyes, thinking he had misheard. At the same time, voices rose all around the room, some saying he was too new and a few outright declaring he wasn't trustworthy enough for something as important as a quest.

Jay glared at them all angrily. The protests quieted, many likely remembering how Jay had beat Clarisse in the duel and could easily turn those skills on them. "Ryan is my friend. This is_ my_ quest and I feel he is _very_ trustworthy. Also, he was present when Rachel gave the prophecy. I think that shows that he is involved in some manner."

Ryan knew better than to disagree with Jay when she was in this kind of mood, Besides, going on this quest was better than remaining at camp where no one would speak to him. "I'll go," he replied simply.

Jay's eyes searched the room. Ryan could guess her dilemma. She had to find someone who she could trust, yet who didn't hate him. She had already chosen Annabeth, and there weren't many more who even spoke to him.

"I'll go."

The whole room, Jay included, turned to see who had spoken. To everyone's surprise it was Nico. Annabeth quickly began speaking, and Ryan swore he saw an idea coming to life in her head. "That makes perfect sense. We know we have to go to the far West from the prophecy and Nico's ability to shadow travel can get us there faster. Also, having a child of the Big Three along will help. Nico has learned to manipulate the Mist as well as Thalia could, so we won't have to worry about mortals. It's the perfect choice."

Sooner than Ryan expected, their group was approved and a plan was made to leave the next morning. As Ryan and Jay left to gather the gear they would need, Annabeth pulled them aside. "Sorry for doing that Jay, but I didn't want to give anyone a chance to make a contradiction. Nico is powerful, but moreover he doesn't hate Ryan. No offense," she remarked to Ryan. He shrugged, he was used to it. Jay nodded, agreeing with Annabeth. She then ran off, seemingly heading to the Hephaestus cabin instead of her own. Ryan decided it wasn't really his business and left to pack.

They met at the camp entrance the next morning. Ryan didn't have much to bring, his ring was his weapon and his backpack only contained a change of clothes, some water, and some of the ambrosia-squares Chiron insisted they all bring. Though it was food of the gods, it could heal demigods too. "But be careful," Chiron had warned. "Too much could make you combust." _Well that's a cheery thought_, Ryan though cynically. Spotting the others, he saw Annabeth was also carrying a backpack. She held her cap in her hand and was in the process of tucking a celestial bronze knife in her pocket. Jay, who was standing nearby, was wearing her super-fast shoes but didn't seem to have any weapons.

"Jay," Ryan asked when he reached her, "didn't you bring a weapon?"

Jay smiled as she turned to face him. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a pair of bronze knuckles. _Celestial_ bronze knuckles. "I had the Hephaestus cabin make them for me," she explained. "My punches do more damage than my sword stokes anyway."

Looking up, Ryan saw Nico approach. He didn't seem to carry anything besides his sheathed Stygian iron sword. "I'm ready to go," he announced as he reached them. "But does anyone know where we are going?"

No one spoke for a minute. "Well," Jay started, "We need to go somewhere to the West, but I don't really know where."

Ryan suddenly felt himself opening his mouth to speak, though he hadn't intended to. "Denver Colorado," he announced. Everyone looked at him.

"How do you know that?" Jay asked, appearing extremely puzzled.

"I have no clue," Ryan replied nervously. "I didn't even intend to say it. It just came out"

Annabeth looked thoughtful. "Maybe not. Hecate _is_ the goddess of crossroads. Maybe you know instinctively where we need to go. It is as good of a guess as anywhere else."

Nodding, Nico motioned to everyone to touch him. "Hold on," he warned as he walked into a particularly dark patch of shadow. Ryan felt like the floor had fallen out from under him. The next thing he knew, they were standing in the back of some large building. Tall mountains rose in the distance.

"Wow," was all Ryan could say as Jay muttered "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."

For the next few minutes, all any of them (except for Nico) could do was laugh.

**P.S. Next chapter you get to meet "**_those of which they don't know_**"**


	7. Chapter 7

**Finally I updated! Sorry it took a bit. I hope to update more during Thanksgiving holiday. Anyway, again, I only own my personal characters, more of which you meet in this chapter. I don't own PLO. Enjoy!**

"I'm starting to doubt this is where we're supposed to be," Annabeth finally stated, echoing the entire party's thoughts.

Ryan sighed. Annabeth was right; they had been searching for three days and hadn't found anything. Ryan had occasionally thought he felt _something_, but it vanished before he could even be sure he felt it.

Jay seemed uncannily aware of his thoughts. "It was only a guess anyway. And Ryan, it is _not_ your fault."

Ryan hated when she did that. He was the one who had suggested the city, even if he had no clue why. Therefore, he still felt a bit guilty. However, there was nothing left to do but try somewhere else.

They left the hotel where they had been staying late that evening. Getting a room had been too easy. Ryan had just used illusion to make himself look like an adult. They had gotten a pair of nice rooms easily. Money wasn't a problem either; Chiron had given them quite a bit for their quest.

While searching for an alley that Nico could use to shadow-travel them away, Ryan caught a glimpse of movement. Turning, he saw what appeared to be a group of teens gathered in one of the smaller alleyways. Ryan didn't know why, but he felt a tug in their direction.

"Hey," Ryan called to the others, "Do you feel anything weird from those people?" Jay turned to look where he was, confusion on her face.

"Ryan," Annabeth questioned, "What people? All that's there is a pile of boxes."

"What?" Ryan looked at them astonished. "You don't see them?"

"Nope, nothing but boxes," Jay confirmed. Jay placed her hand on Ryan's shoulder. "Maybe you're just tired."

Ryan was too busy staring to hear her. As soon as Jay had touched him, the alley where the teens had been was replaced by an alleyway blocked with empty boxes. It looked entirely different! Well, not entirely. He realized if he focused, he could see through the boxes, as if they were partially transparent.

Jay gasped. "How did the boxes become see through?"

"Because they aren't there," Ryan stated, having finally figured out the problem. "It's some kind of illusion. I'm going to try and break it." Focusing, Ryan stared at the alleyway, forcing the magical energy forming the illusion to crack and, eventually break. He could tell it worked when he saw the others staring at the alleyway in surprise.

Those in the alleyway seemed to realize something had happened too. One girl quickly looked up. She looked to be about Ryan's age, maybe a bit older. She had hair as dark as his and eyes that looked hazel. As she stood up, Ryan realized she was likely only a bit shorter than him. She was wearing a purple shirt and faded blue jeans. She pointed at them, whispering to another person who Ryan couldn't see clearly.

The person she had been talking to stood up and, motioning at the others to follow, approached them. Ryan realized the person was also a girl as she walked up to them. She stopped a few feet in front of them, staring at them intensely. The girl was slender and had the palest skin Ryan had ever seen, as if she never went out in the sun. This contrasted with her hair that was a dark black, darker than any Ryan had ever seen, including his own. It seemed to blend in with the fast approaching nighttime darkness. Her eyes were also black, dark enough Ryan couldn't tell where the pupil ended and the iris began. Her clothing was even stranger than her looks.

At first glance, she looked like a wannabe biker. She wore a black leather jacket over a black shirt. She also wore skinny jeans, black of course. This contrasted with her accessories. She wore what appeared to be diamond bracelets, one on each wrist. She also wore a necklace with what appeared to be a star-shaped diamond hanging from it. All in all, it was a strange combination.

Jay was about to open her mouth to say something, likely about the girl's odd clothing choice, but the girl beat her to it. "You're half-bloods," she stated, as calmly as if she was commenting on the weather. "Leave us alone." With that, she turned to walk back into the alley.

"Wait!" Jay yelled after her, "How do you know that?"

The girl turned her dark eyes on them. Ryan didn't like the stare she was giving them. "It's not hard to tell. I know all about the Greek gods being real, the 600th floor of the Empire State building, and the giant war you recently fought with the Titans. Will you go away now?"

"No," Annabeth stated, stepping forward. "I don't know who you are but you and your friends, who I assume are also half-bloods, need to come with us to Camp."

"My name is Nea, yes they are, and none of us are interested."

Annabeth looked taken back by Nea's response. "But you're not safe here. There are monsters-"

"Monsters don't bother us," Nea responded, "We are perfectly safe. Now will you leave," she reached into the night's darkness and pulled out a sword, "Or will I have to make you?"

Ryan nervously stared at the sword Nea held. It had a blade as long as his arm and was made of celestial bronze. The blade had runes engraved into it that seemed to pulse faintly. The hilt was a jet black, the only relief coming from small diamonds scattered on it in a seemingly random pattern.

"I hate to point this out," Ryan said, 'but I think these are the '_those of which they don't know_' from the prophecy."

"You're probably right," Jay replied. "Does that mean we have to fight?"

"Probably." Ryan pressed the gem on his ring, turning it into his spear. Jay had put on her knuckles while Annabeth and Nico had drawn their weapons. Oddly enough, of the others, only Nea had a weapon out.

As Annabeth raised her knife, she instantly fell over to the side. Jay and Nico also stumbled, as if they couldn't keep their balance. Ryan looked and saw the girl wearing purple was waving her hands in air. She was also staring at him oddly. "Whatever you're doing, stop!" Ryan yelled at her. When he got no response, he switched his spear to one hand and fired a blast of magic at her.

The purple energy hit the girl, and did absolutely nothing. "Well, that's interesting," Nea murmured. "Kara, you can stop." Kara let her hands fall back to her sides. Jay and the rest got up, apparently having regained their balance.

"What was that for?" Jay asked angrily.

"You were about to attack," Nea stated, "Besides it was just vertigo. It didn't do any harm."

"Why didn't it affect me?" Ryan asked, not really expecting an answer. Surprisingly he got one.

"Apparently Mother doesn't want her children using their abilities against each other," Kara stated. "It also explains why you could break my illusion, _Brother_."

Ryan mouth went dry. "You mean you're…"

Kara smirked. "Yep. I'm Kara, daughter of Hecate, and, apparently, your half-sister."

Nea looked at them all carefully. "It looks like we also have a daughter of Nike, a daughter of Athena and, oh, a son of _Hades_." She looked at Nico with something close to disgust. "I wonder if we have to bow, or if we could just look amazed and gratified." Nea's voice dripped with sarcasm.

Annabeth was staring at Nea, completely baffled. "How could you tell that?"

Nea smirked. "It's easy for me. You really should leave before I get annoyed. You wouldn't like that."

"Sorry," Nico said, appearing behind Nea with his sword out, "We need you to come with us."

Nea turned, almost too fast to perceive, and struck at Nico with her sword. Nico barely had time to quickly shadow travel away. As he reappeared next to Annabeth, he gasped as a thin line of red appeared on his arm.

"My sword can slash through shadows. I told you not to annoy me."

Looking up, Ryan saw the darkness around Nea seem to, well, darken. It was like she was some kind of anti-torch. Just like a torch brightens the area around it, she was darkening the area around her.

"Who…What are you?" Annabeth whispered.

Nea smiled. "Haven't you figured it out yet, daughter of Athena? My mother is the only goddess feared by Zeus. My siblings are Death, Doom, and Sleep, among others. I am cousin to the Titans and niece to the Earth herself. My mother was a daughter of the nothingness of the very beginning. I am Nea, daughter of Nyx, primordial goddess of the night. And you've managed to annoy me."

**Next Chapter is Nea's story! Tell me what you think of the new characters. There are more than Nea and Kara, there are just the only two who have done anything at the moment. Please review, reviews make me feel guilty about not updating, so I do it faster. **


	8. Chapter 8

**I beg my reader's, assuming I have any left, forgiveness for not updating for almost two months. I'll try to update more often, but I can't make any promises. Anyway, here we see Nea's story and meet another of her charming friends. This was written and proofread late at night, so please excuse any errors.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO, etc.**

"That's impossible," Annabeth immediately stated.

Nea faced Annabeth. "You accuse me of being a liar?" she asked, her voice calm but her eyes icy.

"It's not that," Annabeth quickly responded, "but Nyx has multiple godly children. She has never had any half-blood children."

"Also," Ryan inserted cautiously, hoping Annabeth knew what she was doing, "isn't Nyx married to Erebus, another primordial god? Wouldn't he be mad if she had children with someone else? In the myths, Hera hated Zeus's children by other wives."

"And how could you not be threatened by monsters?" Jay added. "We got attacked by a _gorgon_!"

Nea sighed. "Time for a history lesson." She opened the hand not holding her sword, and then clenched it into a fist. Black tendrils sprung out of the night, binding Ryan's hands and feet. Looking to his side, he saw the others had encountered the same fate. He looked at Nea accusingly, and she shrugged. "Security precaution."

Nea turned to address all of them. "First, you need to realize I'm different from other half-bloods. I've known who my mother was since I was six. You all know how the children of the Big Three have a stronger scent than other half-bloods, and that it is why monsters find them easily?" At their nods, Nea continued. "Well, my scent is stronger than even theirs. Monsters can easily tell I'm a daughter of Nyx. They don't dare get anywhere near me. Like you said, I'm Nyx's only half-blood child; my mother would annihilate them if they hurt me. She might even prevent them from ever reforming. She could do that."

"As for my personal history, it's fairly basic. My mother met my father, he's a movie director, at a late-night party. They began dating and, eventually, got married. He was surprised when she told him who she was, but accepted it, he had heard stranger in Hollywood. She could only see him at night though, she and Hemera, goddess of day, can never be on earth at the same time. I was born about a year after they married. As for your earlier question, why Nyx wanted a half-blood child when she had many godly children, it is simple. She needed someone to represent her interests in the mortal world. After all, her godly children were minor gods. _Their _half-blood children weren't accepted at Camp. Someone had to look out for them when the time came."

"But I'm getting ahead of myself. My mother visited me multiple times when I was a child, always at night of course. She taught me how to use by abilities, told me about the gods, major and minor, and told me how important I was. My father hired me a tutor to teach me regular school subjects. I occasionally had visits from my godly half-siblings. Thanatos, the god of death himself, taught me how to sword fight. As to why Erebus didn't get jealous," Nea cast a disgusted look at Annabeth and Nico, "he isn't an _Olympian_, for crying out loud! Nyx is a primordial goddess; she has previously had children by herself with no help whatsoever. He treated me like one of those children, to be accepted as I was, without him involving himself one way or the other."

"When I was about 13, I begged my mom and dad to let me go to a normal school. They reluctantly agreed, and I went to an ultra-exclusive private school. That's where I met Kara. I soon learned she was a half-blood. If a half-blood had been claimed by their godly parent I can see a 'reflection' of their parent's symbol over them at night. We eventually became friends. I went there for two years."

"Then, around the time Kronos was released, Nyx came to me and told me she needed me. I attempted to sneak away alone, by Kara caught me and, when I told her why I was leaving, insisted on coming with me. My mother tasked me to gather and protect the half-blood children of my godly siblings, both from Kronos seeking to recruit them, and from _you_ taking them to a place where their parents weren't even acknowledged. Even though the war is over, I'm still protecting them. They're my family by blood." Nea smiled. "Any questions?"

"Can you release us first?" Jay yelled immediately. Nea flipped her hand, and the tendrils dissolved.

"I have a question." Annabeth stared at Nea challengingly. "Where are the half-bloods you say you're protecting?"

Nea made a gesture, and what seemed like a wall of blackness dissolved. Behind it, Ryan could make out four or five forms. One, a boy, stepped forward immediately. He, like Nea, had black hair. His hair was short and slightly shaggy; He had tan skin and bright green eyes. He wore faded jeans and a black T-shirt with a skeleton on it. He slowly surveyed Ryan's group, his eyes stopping on Nico.

"Hey Nico," he called out, "how's it shaking?"

"Nico," Jay questioned, "you know him?"

Nico nodded, looking nervous. "That's Shane, the son of Thanatos. I saw him once in the Underworld before the war with the Titans. I thought he was on their side and had died." Nico gulped, "He's deadly with a sword."

Ryan considered pointing out the humor in that wording, but decided against it.

Shane just smiled at Nico's words. "My dad's the god of death, how could I _not_ be skilled with deadly weapons? He pulled out a pocketknife and flicked it open, transforming it into a long sword with a hilt made of what appeared to be bones.

Nea turned to face them again. "I warned you once. This is the last time. Leave us alone."

"We can't," Jay stated. "The quest was assigned in a prophecy. If we leave, _our_ parents will be mad.

Nea shrugged. "They only sent you because they themselves couldn't force us. Zeus himself wouldn't cross my mother (1), so they had to try and convince us to agree, which they attempted by sending you. And since you stubbornly refuse to give up," Nea motioned to Shane and Kara, both of who took up positions to either side of her, "We'll have to make you go."

**This is a reference to a conversation Hypnos (Sleep) had with Hera in Book 14 of the Iliad.**

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